Monthly Archives: January 2019

Review: The Wife

Posted on January 28, 2019 by philipbrasor

Glenn Close’s surprise Golden Globe win for Best Actress in a Drama already pegs Bjorn Runge’s film as a must-see mediocre movie, and, in truth, Close makes it worth your money. As the wife of blowhard writer Joe Castleman (Jonathan … Continue reading →

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Media Mix, Jan. 27, 2019

Posted on January 27, 2019 by philipbrasor

Here’s this week’s Media Mix about the protocol relationship between Japan-Russia negotiations over the Northern Territories and the U.S. base issue in Okinawa. According to writer Koji Yabe, Japan is totally in thrall to the U.S. military and thus cannot … Continue reading →

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Review: Suspiria

Posted on January 25, 2019 by philipbrasor

Few genres have become as formulaic as horror movies, and one of the better things you can say about Luca Guadagnino’s reimagining of Dario Argento’s 1977 slasher classic is that it avoids the cliches you expect. Unfortunately, it replaces them … Continue reading →

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Review: Girls of the Sun

Posted on January 22, 2019 by philipbrasor

Though horrific in intent, this French film about a battalion of Kurdish women fighting against the Islamic State in Iraqi Kurdistan avoids scenes of overt violence and goes rather light on the gore. It’s both a relief and a cop-out, … Continue reading →

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Media Mix, Jan. 20, 2019

Posted on January 20, 2019 by philipbrasor

Here’s this week’s Media Mix about remarks made by Hitachi’s chairman, Hiroaki Nakanishi, about the future of nuclear energy in Japan, and the world, for that matter. As pointed out at the beginning of the column, Nakanishi made the remarks … Continue reading →

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Review: Rebel in the Rye

Posted on January 19, 2019 by philipbrasor

Whether couched in prose or celluloid, literary biographies are a dodgy enterprise, but prose at least has the luxury of length for people who are probably pre-disposed to sitting for long periods of time reading a book. Danny Strong’s rather … Continue reading →

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Review: His Lost Name

Posted on January 18, 2019 by philipbrasor

The cautious tone and austere aesthetic of Nanako Hirose’s debut feature was what most likely got it placed in the New Currents section of the most recent Busan International Film Festival, where it had its world premiere. New Currents is … Continue reading →

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Review: Creed II

Posted on January 11, 2019 by philipbrasor

As a gambit to legitimize the reboot of a franchise that should have been put to rest years ago, this sequel to the potently effective Creed works surprisingly well, but probably for the wrong reasons. Though it continues the story … Continue reading →

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Review: The Looming Storm

Posted on January 7, 2019 by philipbrasor

Film noir is defined as much by atmosphere as by any other visual or narrative attribute. The first film by director Dong Yue, a noted cinematographer, is drenched in heavy weather per the title. Ostensibly a murder mystery, The Looming … Continue reading →

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Media Mix, Jan. 6, 2019

Posted on January 6, 2019 by philipbrasor

Here’s this week’s Media Mix about right-wing internet trolls. In the introductory paragraphs I described journalist Koichi Yasuda’s comparison of classic rightists with the newer, anonymous internet type. Yasuda tends to think that classic rightists have more integrity than internet … Continue reading →

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